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Morocco coach says claims of Africa Cup refereeing bias are from foes 'who want to see us fall'

Story byCIARÁN FAHEYSat, January 10, 2026 at 2:46 PM UTC·3 min readRABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco coach Walid Regragui has angrily rejected suggestions his team is benefiting from favorable refereeing decisions as the Africa Cup of Nations host.“We’re the team to beat. As the team to beat, people will try to find all sorts of reasons to say Morocco has an advantage,” Regragui said after his team’s 2-0 win over Cameroon in the quarterfinals Friday. “The only advantage that Morocco has at this Africa Cup is playing in front of 65,000 spectators.

Morocco coach says claims of Africa Cup refereeing bias are from foes 'who want to see us fall'

Credit: Yahoo

Key Highlights

  • The rest is on the field, we speak on the field.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn the field, however, Cameroon might have had two penalties if experienced referee Dahane Beida hadn’t decided in favor of the home team. Morocco defender Adam Masina was involved in both, appearing to catch Bryan Mbuemo’s right boot after missing the ball when Cameroon was trying to level the match, then in the final minutes appearing to strike Etta Eyong’s head with his elbow in the penalty area. Beida, who refereed the final at the last edition, also decided not to show Bilal El Khannouss a second yellow card for stopping Danny Namaso on a counterattack shortly before Ismael Saibari wrapped up the win.“Many people want to believe or make others believe that we have advantages from the referees.
  • Personally, I saw penalties that could have been awarded to us.
  • As for the referees, I never talk about the referee,” Regragui said. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Morocco coach then spoke about a penalty his team was not awarded against South Africa in the previous tournament in Ivory Coast, and wrongly said he was “suspended for no reason” at that tournament. Regragui was suspended for two games at the previous edition for his role in a dispute with Congo captain Chancel Mbemba at the end of their game that led to a melee between players and team officials.“The statistics always show us as better than the others,” Regragui said, getting back to this edition.
  • “We create far more opportunities than our opponents.
  • Not a single goal was disallowed for Cameroon, or for any other team.
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Sources

  1. Morocco coach says claims of Africa Cup refereeing bias are from foes 'who want to see us fall'

This quick summary is automatically generated using AI based on reports from multiple news sources. The content has not been reviewed or verified by humans. For complete details, accuracy, and context, please refer to the original published articles.

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